Amile The Queen

Chapter Sixty-One

Chapter Sixty

***Narrated***

“How did you find me?” Banzi asked as he charged down the stairs.
Thulisile stood beside his tall figure looking at Banzi as he walked down the stairs in outrage.
“I figured. Bhuti, you need to come back home so we can deal with this accordingly.”
“Easy for you to say, you are here to claim my life and you are leaving me with nothing.”
“That’s why we need to talk things through, find common ground.” Banzi sighs.
Being angry is not in his nature, that’s why he feels like he’s fighting a losing battle.
Langa signaled Thuli to go look for Amile while he asks Banzi to calm down so they can speak.
“MaMzobe has been admitted to hospital, Mgabadeli has been trying to get a hold of you.” he said in a soft voice.
“I don’t care about Nontuthuzelo.” Langa could see that he was faking it, you could see it in his eyes.
“You might not care about her bhuti but she’s carrying Zulu blood, your blood and that should be your priority right now. I urge you, please go see her, make sure that she’s okay. I’ll give you time, both you and MaGumede, just make sure the child is okay.”
Banzi put his hand on his face and wiped it gradually, creasing his nose.
“Ngiyacela bhuti.” Banzi pleaded.
He turned and walked back upstairs to the bedroom where he was. He ran into Thuli just about to open the door. He walked past her without acknowledging her presence. Their hands touched when he made his way past her, and that seemed to evoke an emotion inside of her. She started chanting and burping.
He stopped in his tracks and looked at her.
“Qaphela.” she said to him, looking at him in the pupils.
His dilated.
“Qaphela.” she said again.
He moved away feeling frightened before he disappeared into the room.
He found Amile balled up and foetal position, rocking herself back and forth, sobbing lowly. His heart broke and he felt useless for not knowing what to do.
“He’s here.” he chocked.
Her sobs got a little louder.
“MaMzobe is in hospital and he asked me to go see her.” she sat up and wiped her tears.
“Go see her. Go make sure the baby is okay.” he looked at her for reassurance.
She nodded and got off the bed to go give him a tight squeeze. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held him tightly.
“I love you so much MaGumede.” he said in a firm voice. He’s holding himself together.
“I love you too Zulu.” she sniffed.
They broke the hug and stared at each other for a while before he planted a soft kiss on her forehead.
He went to grab his jacket off the chair and walked out the room without looking back…
^
^
^
It took a lot to convince Amile to go back with them to Zululand without Banzi there with them.
She’s curled up in a ball in the back sobbing. She feels an extreme feeling of hatred towards Langa for putting her through so much, especially now that she grown so used to being with Banzi, and learning how to love him.
Langa on the other hand is feeling an intense amount of pain in his jaw and has a gaping hole in his stomach. He can’t seem to shake it, he’s been feeling like this since they left Ulundi.
They are a 20 minutes away from Zululand. It has been the most silent drive ever, no sound of the radio, just Amile’s sobs and sniffs every other interval.
There is an accident on the road, there are a few cars parked on the side of the road inspecting the scene, causing unnecessary traffic. Thuli maneuvers through it successfully but when Langa inspects it through the window, he see’s a familiar vehicle.
His heart leaps.
“Thuli stop the car.” she’s also looking around trying to find a spot to stop so she doesn’t block oncoming cars, but Langa isn’t hearing any of that.
“I said stop the car!” he shouts unintentionally.
He knows that she doesn’t appreciate noise, but he’s not thinking straight, his eyes are deceiving him.
Amile sits up to see what the commotion is about. She looks out the window and watches as Langa sprints to the accident scene. With a hoarse voice, she asks: “What’s going on?”
Thuli doesn’t reply, she just grips onto the steering wheel and takes a deep breath in.
Now her interest has peaked. She’s trying to peek from the back seat but she isn’t seeing anything. She gets a peek of the car in question, it’s the flaming red Jaguar,  she knows it all too well. Even in an unrecognizable state.
“Banzi.” that’s the only thing she says before she tries to open the door but it’s not opening.
“Open this door, that’s my husbands car!” she shouts at Thuli who just sits still without moving.
She’s getting hysterical and starts banging the window. In a panic she dives to the front to try and open the door and after succeeding, she leaps out the car in a panic, not even minding the glass on the road. She’s barefoot and they are cutting through her sensitive feet as she jolts to the accident scene.
“I need you to let me through, that’s my brother there!” Langa is being restrained by police.
When Amile appears behind him, the police immediately recognized her and bowed. That seemed to fuel her anger.
“Is that my husband lying there?” she asks in a breaking voice.
The paramedics are attending to a body.
“We are not sure my queen.”
“Then let me through so I can identify him.” she shouts.
It gets through to them because they let both her and Langa through. As they get closer they see the body being covered in the foil, the person has been pronounced dead.
The first thing Amile sees lying on the side of the road is his tooth necklace. She feels a stabbing pain in her heart before she lets out a shrill, heart piercing cry.
“No, no, no, take that thing off!” she runs to the corpse.
Langa stands the frozen on the spot feeling a cold shiver run through his body.
They give her space and she goes to uncover the foil.
He’s not breathing, there’s blood all over his face and his clothes. If it wasn’t for the blood, you’d swear he was sleeping.
“Bayede no, you have to wake up, wake up!” she shakes him as she grips onto his body and screams.
“Do something! Bring him back! Do something, he’s not breathing!”
Everyone who was on the scene took off whatever hat they were wearing and got on their knees in sign of respect.

***Mandlenkosi Zulu***

He knows he should be home at this time, this is a time to be spent with family. Even Jama is in Zululand and he’s here in his bachelor pad enjoying the serenity. He also doesn’t want to be too far from Mathapelo.
Deep down in his heart of hearts though, he knows the reason he’s avoiding going home, the amount of drama he left behind has surely spread like wildfire, and because no one has called him yet, he’s safe.
He’s made plans for him and Mathapelo, this is the wooing stage where he has to prove himself worthy of her love, so he’s doing all he can.
Another thing that he loves about her is that she may think she’s smart, but she’s actually very clueless. She doesn’t even know his title, or better yet, the importance of the title itself. He likes that.
She’s also playing hard to get, he likes a challenge. It’s a good distraction for him, he’s keeping his mind occupied and hopefully, he’ll fall in love with her soon enough. For now, he’s just attracted to her.
He just came back from the gym, he hasn’t been in a while because he hasn’t been taking care of himself.
It’s been tragic for the past three months and as the new year approaches, he hopes to start it on a clean slate, no problems, no heartache, just focusing on himself, his body and his career. And potentially building a better relationship with his brother. Now that he has a slight idea of how he feels about their childhood, and how they were raised, he’s open to the idea of getting to know him on a deeper level, not judging that is on the outside.
He hits the shower and when he finishes, he goes to the kitchen to make himself something to eat. Mathapelo is coming over in a few, he thinks to himself, so he needs to make haste.
He can’t stop thinking about his brothers, more especially Banzi and the allegations he made towards MaMzobe. He can’t wrap his head around it. It doesn’t make sense to him; MaMzobe would never do such a thing. She’s as kind as could be, she could never plot to kill anyone, especially a family member. What did she gain from attempting to kill Langalethu? The throne? What’s so special about it?
His phone disturbs his thoughts and he picks it up without checking the caller ID.
“Zulu hello.” he answers.
“Mr Zulu, I’m outside.” it’s her.
“I’m coming.” he drops everything he’s doing and sprints to the door.
He hates that she’s still calling Mr Zulu, but he understands that she struggles with the language. He finds her standing next to her car with her arms folded across her chest. She’s looks gorgeous, he thinks to himself. She’s dressed accordingly for the day ahead, comfortable and sexy.
He opens his arms for a hug and she hesitantly agrees. He hears her inhaling his scent and he knows that he’s done something right.
“You look sexy.” he says.
She moves away from him, feeling a tad bit uncomfortable. Even he can see it on her face.
He leads the way to the apartment and she follows him, only the sound of her heels causing an echo in the lobby. When they get to the apartment, he asks her to make herself comfortable in the lounge.
He goes back to the kitchen and he checks his phone. He has several missed calls from Jama and when he tries to get back to him, he doesn’t answer.
“Must I make you something to eat?” he asks the lady in question.
“No thank you.” she replies.
He makes both of them drinks and he finds his way back to the lounge. She’s glued on her phone she doesn’t even look up to see him approaching.
“Thank you.” she says without looking up.
“What’s got you so intrigued.” he asks digging into his sandwich.
She looks up and she suddenly craves it.
“An accident. Apparently the king of Kwa-Zulu Natal was involved. I didn’t know we still believed in kings.” she said going back to her screen.
“King?” he chocked.
“Turn on the news.” he dumped the plate on the table and scrambled for the remote.
His heart is beating out of his chest and his palms are sweating as he tries to fiddle with the remote. He succeeds in turning it on and goes to the news channel.
The first thing he sees is his brother’s picture. He feels his heart getting stuck in his throat.
“I think that’s him.” she said looking in his direction.
“Authorities say it was mearly an accident that was caused by reckless driving. It is unfortunate that it has resulted in the untimely death of KZN’s monarch, King Zwelibanzi, just 3 years after the death of his father, the late King Mhlabawesizwe Zulu and the late prince Langalethu…” he switched it off and stood up in a haste.
“Are you okay?” she reads the room.
His hands are shaking, he’s hoping that what he’s hearing is not what it is.
He fetches his phone from the kitchen and calls Jama back. This time he answers and the first thing he hears in the background are uncontrollable screams, heart piercing cries.
“Jama?” he asks with his voice breaking.
“Buya ekhaya Zulu.” that’s all Jama says.
His phone slips out of his hand and crashes on the floor. He sinks down along with it and stifles a sob as he feels a stabbing pain in his heart.
“Mr Zulu.” Mathapelo runs into the kitchen in a haste.
As soon as she puts her hands on his shoulders, he lets out a loud scream.
She doesn’t much, she just rubs his back and comforts him.